Comments on: Even France Can Go 100% Renewables (Graph)

By: Community Power In The Global Community Vol. III: France | CleanTechnica

Community Power In The Global Community Vol. III: France | CleanTechnica — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:31:23 +0000

[…] energy is becoming more and more affordable by the day and is easier and cheaper to maintain. Here’s a CleanTechnica article about a study done by negaWatt, a French think tank, demonstrating that France can go 100% […]

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:57:00 +0000

natural gas is phased out by 2050 in the negawatt graph on the right. not sure what you are talking about.

“What is important to understand is that a new energy system is possible, one that breaks the established links with the dominant technologies of today – oil, gas, coal and nuclear.”

If you’re referring to the synthetic methane, as Daniel notes, that can be generated renewably.

By: Daniel LaLiberte

Daniel LaLiberte — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:16:00 +0000

Natural gas can be renewable, but not if it is extracted from the finite (and often contaminated) resources in the ground originally created from fossilized plants. Instead, natural gas can be produced from an infinitely repeatable process of extracting carbon from the atmosphere via new growth plants, so this process is carbon neutral (as long as we aren’t stupid and cut down forests to plant more plants). It is essentially solar energy storage via carbon-based chemicals, so it is carbon-neutral. Some fraction of the energy derived this way would be used to run the process, and deliver it to consumers. There are other ways to store the energy that might be more efficient, but natural gas is rather convenient.

So your assumption that natural gas cannot be renewable sounds a bit childish now, right?

By: anderlan

anderlan — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:15:00 +0000

“negaWatt!?” is what Lil John says when his utility hikes his rates.

By: hi

hi — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 04:06:00 +0000

Oh this is exciting. Natural gas counts as renewable now?

Anyway, renewable energy has its place, but ridiculous plans such as this only make pro-renewable people look quaint and childish.